SF Giants moderately improve in ESPN's rankings of MLB core talent

The SF Giants moved up half a dozen spots in a ranking of MLB teams by the strength of their core by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel.

The SF Giants moved up six spots in ESPN MLB insider Kiley McDaniel's latest ranking of the "core talent" on all 30 MLB teams. While it's a good sign for the Giants to move up in the rankings, they were ranked 28th last season and are still only 22nd. McDaniel included only players under team control through 2025 and tiered the top talent of each team into three categories: "elite (5+ WAR talent, or MVP candidates), above average (3-5 WAR types) and solid (1.5-3 WAR, or lower-end starters and valuable role players)."

SF Giants relief pitcher Camilo Doval delivers a pitch in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins. (2023) / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants did not have any "elite" players in McDaniel's classification. However, ace Logan Webb, rookie catcher Patrick Bailey, and closer Camilo Doval were all tiered as "above average." 15 other Giants fell into McDaniel's "solid" category, and he notes that he anticipates at least six of them, including names like Luis Matos, Marco Luciano, Kyle Harrison, and Carson Whisenhunt, to be "settled into the big leagues by next summer, with Webb and Bailey holding the potential to jump to the 'elite' tier by then."

McDaniel also noted that the Giants' place at #28 on the list in 2022's ranking was something of a shock to him and seemed like a veritable low point for the organization. This is, of course, not shocking. Coming off the 107-win season in 2021, the Giants front office mostly ran the whole operation back but did not find an upgrade to make up for the loss of legendary catcher Buster Posey and did not find a long-term replacement for Kevin Gausman in the starting rotation.

In fact, the repercussions of choosing to largely stay out of the free agent market early in president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi's tenure has followed them for several offseasons. They were aggressive this past offseason but struck out on several big names, most notably Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, forcing many fans into sighs of resignation at another silent winter, expectations for the squad were rather low. The team outperformed expectations early in the season, surging into a top wild card spot. However, they faded as the summer went on and are hoping to get back into the postseason picture over the next few weeks.

McDaniel acknowledged that the big-league team has not been much better in 2023 than they were in 2022. However, he wrote, "the young players have taken a step forward at the big league and minor league levels." Without significant long-term contracts on the books, San Francisco also has the financial flexibility to target top free agents in the coming offseasons.

SF Giants president of baseball operations Zaidi has come under fire following the team's middling season. McDaniel's ranking can serve as evidence for Zaidi's critics and supporters. It's far from ideal that the organization ranks 22nd in the league in terms of core talent. However, they also are trending in the right direction.